Friday, July 26, 2013

Epic....I couldn't tell you how many times that word was used before, during, and after our latest amazing trip. When it was finally time to say goodbye, there wasn't one person ready to go back to reality. It could not have been more perfect. The following is seriously what an average day looked like: wake up, take a morning swim and have a little breakfast; Captain Eric would get the boat ready and we would start sailing; eat, drink, and relax while enroute (unless the waves were crazy, then we would do all of that while laughing at Jennie and Amy's "we are going to die" facial expressions); Maria would whip us up an amazing Greek lunch (she would accomplish deliciousness no matter how big the waves were!); eventually arrive at a new island; eat, drink, and swim some more; go onto a new island for some exploring and dinner; head back to the boat (either by dingy or swimming) for a dance party; go to bed; wake up and start all over in. This more or less went on everyday.....making it...wait for it....THE BEST GROUNDHOG DAY EVER! I could sit here and tell you all about how great the weather was, how delicious the food tasted, or how amazing the islands were, but our awesome crew is what stood out most of all. It might be the fact that we have been living abroad for over a year and a half, but Nicole and I both agreed that the most "epic" part of this journey was simply being with great friends and being able to experience such a crazy adventure together. Four married couples picked to live on a small boat for a week while sailing the Aegean Sea. What could go wrong? Answer: absolutely nothing. We may not have all been close prior to this, in fact some of us had never even met, but we are sure to be lifelong friends now and I am already entering the initial planning phase for the reunion tour. There were countless silly, hilarious, inappropriate, drunk, and ridiculous moments that continually filled the down time with laughter. We played games, discussed favorite movies and books.....at one point each of us tried to come up with our own top five lists for girl and guy "islands" (don't worry Drew, I won't mention yours ;) Our crowning achievement? We came up with aliases. The crew of the Astarte as follows: PJ "The Package" (brought on by his very not-so-supportive tuxedo fashion panties); Jennie "The Brain" (hands down the smartest person on the boat, neuro-something or other in real life); Drew "The Professor" (Greek history buff, always had an answer for our dumb history questions); Amy "The Big Timer" (queen of the bold statements, nothing was ever too big, too high, or too difficult for Amy....that is until it was time to actually do it. It was a very ironic nickname); Paul "The Cabin Boy" (always had a "yes" attitude.... and oh yeah, because he had a serious man-crush on Captain Eric); Aspen "The Silent Assasspen" (not one to waste words...she would continually pop up out of nowhere with perfectly timed comments); Nicole "The Executive" (when a decision needed to be made, we looked no further); Josh "The Fixer" (dubbed after fixing Nicole's sunglasses, go ahead and come to me with your problems...I apparently have solutions).
Whelp...this goes down as another check off the ol' bucket list, I am just sad it had to end. Enjoy the pics...I have already looked at them about a hundred times since I got home. Big huge thanks to the crew...just wouldn't have been the same without you all. Until next time....Cheers!
Next stop: Riga, Latvia

Four hour ferry ride to Paros.

Getting ready to board.

In the kitchen mixing up some "Dread Pirate Drapers" (AKA: Manhattans)

The Epic Fashion Panty Pic!

The "Package" in action shooting some pics... notice the tuxedo fashion panties?